Thinking CAP - Martin Ward, CAP manufacturer relationships manager, scours the globe for the week's fleet insider intelligence

Monday/Tuesday

Over to Paris for the unveiling of the Nissan Juke, which will be built in Sunderland.

The event was held at ONERA, the French government’s secret aerospace development centre, which meant extra security, passports being taken off us, and getting approval from the authorities – all a bit unnecessary to see a new car.

All we saw in this establishment was a huge concrete wind-tunnel and five fans – not exactly James Bond stuff. The Juke, Nissan says, is a ‘crossover’ – half-SUV, half-sports car – but in reality it is a really good looking B-sector hatch that will compete with Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa, Mazda2 and Volkswagen Polo, and will certainly pinch some customers from these well-established players.

The interior is clever with some nice touches, including a centre console reminiscent of a motorcycle petrol tank.

This is the first Nissan for many years that will appeal to younger buyers, and should prove a success in the fleet market.

Thursday

At BMW HQ in Bracknell to drive the long-awaited 320d Efficient Dynamics saloon.

I drove there in Audi’s equivalent car, the A4 2.0 TDIe, and achieved 56mpg going nice and steady on the M1.

The A4 produces 136bhp and has CO2 emissions of 120g/km. On short journeys the A4 managed 46.4mpg.

The 320d ED achieves a low CO2 figure of 109g/km, and a very healthy fuel consumption figure of nearly 70mpg on the combined cycle.

Around Bracknell I managed 51.4mpg without really trying. I was surprised how quick it was, but it does produce 163bhp.

Both cars are a huge step forward for economy and saving fleet drivers and their companies money, and both have great styling, high quality and are a pleasure to drive.

Friday

At the Nissan Design Centre in Paddington for the unveiling of the Infiniti M Saloon that goes up against the BMW 5-Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Audi A6 and Jaguar XF.

The M is due later this year with a 3.7-litre petrol engine, a 3.0 V6 diesel early next year and a 3.5-litre petrol-electric hybrid mid-2011.

The quality seemed excellent throughout the car with fit and finish, and materials used on the interior being exceptional.

Infiniti does not have huge sales volume aspirations, and the lack of dealers doesn’t help.

If benefit-in-kind tax and CO2 are important, then most fleets will stick with their tried and tested prestige brands.